London 2012 heroes Ben Maher and Scott Brash underlined the feelgood factor
surrounding British showjumping by claiming European individual medals in
Denmark.

Less than 48 hours after Great Britain followed their Olympic gold team medal success last summer by being crowned European champions, Maher and Brash were back on the podium, collecting silver and bronze, respectively, at Herning’s MCH Arena.

It would have been gold for Maher, but one fence down in the penultimate round aboard brilliant 11-year-old mare Cella opened the door for 47-year-old Frenchman Roger Yves Bost to triumph with Myrtille Paulois.

Maher was left to reflect on “one simple silly mistake” that proved the solitary blot across five rounds of jumping this week.

Scotsman Brash, meanwhile, produced a masterclass aboard Hello Sanctos. They were the only combination among an initial 25-strong field to jump double clear, and leapt from 10th place to claim bronze.

It is the first time since John and Michael Whitaker won gold and silver in Rotterdam 24 years ago for Britain to have two European Championship individual medallists at the same event.

For 30-year-old Maher, it was a case of mixed feelings, knowing how close he had gone to gold, but also thrilled by how well Cella — his possible Rio 2016 horse — had performed.

“She was quite hot today to ride - she was quite sharp and excited - and she just jumped way too high at the oxer (fence 10). I think I could jump it 10 times and not knock the back rail down,” Maher said.

“But that is sport. She jumped everything else fantastically. I was concerned of her maybe hitting that fence so hard and then having to jump another round today under pressure that she wouldn’t quite be ready, but she obviously was.”

Maher has only had the ride on Cella for nine months, yet they are already firmly established as a world-class partnership, although the horse’s owner - American Jane Clark - is probably unaware of the European success as she is currently on a boating holiday in Alaska.

Maher, who watched last-to-go Bost from inside the arena, added: “It is hard to get through the whole week in a championship without having a rail down, and Cella has been phenomenal.

“It is a shame Jane couldn’t be here, but I will call her up and tell her to have some champagne on me.

“I thought the combination at the end might be my saviour, but once he [Bost] got the vertical jump going in then it was all over. He rode a round-of-a-lifetime there.

“It was just one simple silly mistake in five rounds of jumping, and to come away with a team gold as well this week it’s not bad at all.”